MBA after MBBS, BDS, or BSc.? Here is the Backstory from the Healthcare Management Gurus

 

 

Healthcare is a people-driven industry. As clinicians, we inherently want autonomy—the primary power to consult, examine, and devise treatment plans for the patients—and colleagues are welcome for multispecialty care. The reality, however, is different. Healthcare as an industry is a network of stakeholders who counterintuitively affect and modify the what, when, and hows of treatment planning and care. Whether its core medicine, dentistry, nursing, physiotherapy, or other ancillary healthcare services, the decision-makers, service providers, the aides, and the patient types vary and influence healthcare outcomes. Thus, MBA in healthcare or the physician’s MBA/healthcare management is gaining traction and is instrumental to managing the key players in the healthcare space. 

 

Stay tuned, as we have ANASTOMOS Founder & MD Dr Chandrika Kambam with us today. As an MD healthcare specialist and an MBA, she discusses the nuances of an MBA healthcare management and MBA healthcare management job opportunities.

 

MBA Healthcare Management Scope and Need

Healthcare professionals with a management degree can achieve multisectoral transformations and work in a multi-professional, multi-agency setting. Here are the benefits of MBA after MBBS:

• Learn the business side of medicine

 

All practitioners are essentially entrepreneurs or a solo-entity, fully certified to offer healthcare services. Like we discussed in ‘The Secret Sauce to Launching a Healthcare Business,’ the healthcare industry is more organized worldwide. With corporates and investors chasing the industry and HealthTech in place, all clinicians must understand business. 

 

Jeffery B. Kramer, MD, MBA, contributes to an article on ‘Doctors Extending Their Education: Why an MBA? Is It a Degree of Success?’ and highlights that, to make an impact, we must speak the language of business, grasp the complexities of healthcare delivery, and view the industry through a practical, business-focused lens. This applies to both employed and independent physicians alike.

 

• Learn managerial skills

 

A study in Social Science and Medicine reveals that top-ranked hospitals in the US News & World Report Best Hospitals list are more often led by physicians than by professional managers. MBA healthcare management scope involves learning the fundamentals of how a healthcare organization works, strategy, economics, operations, and supply chain management in healthcare. 

• Medical leadership 

 

Generalist management skills make a good leader, but in healthcare, leaders must know the technical skills or their specialty too. Strong healthcare leaders show clinical expertise whilst managing the quality of healthcare services under regulatory standards, the unique demands of clinical teams, and the role of digital technologies in healthcare.  

 

• Agility

 

Healthcare is dynamic. We’ve discussed the need for healthcare professionals to adapt and adopt this dynamism in some of our previous articles on ‘Paging Progress: Why Healthcare Pros Never Stop Learning’ and ‘Why Should You Attend Healthcare Events?’ and more. Healthcare leaders must be able to meet the growing demands of global healthcare, changing HealthTech concepts, and respond to different working, demographic, and cultural environments. 

 

 

MBA Healthcare Management Job Opportunities

The need for health management professionals (HMP) is growing in India and worldwide. If you are looking for the best MBA healthcare management colleges in India, here’s what you need to know:

 

MBA Healthcare Management Eligibility:

 

Anybody with a bachelor’s or master’s degree in or not in life sciences and healthcare is eligible for MBA healthcare management. Clinicians these days are applying to MBA programs, making MBA after MBBS, MBA after BDS, etc. common. 

Courses offered to healthcare professionals alone: 

• Health administration; Hospital management

• Community health; Preventive and social health; Public health

 

Courses offered to healthcare and non-medical background professionals:

• Healthcare management/administration

• Hospital management/administration

• Healthcare and hospital management/administration

• Master of Public Health (with a strong focus on healthcare/hospital management)

The job prospects for healthcare managers are reported to be promising, with a projected 28% growth from 2021 to 2031. Factors that initiate the growth are the aging population, HealthTech advancements, and the growing complexity of healthcare systems.

 

Reports discuss the leading salaries as expected by healthcare management professionals: 

 

 

MBA after MBBS or MBA after BDS, the Real Plan B. Why?

 

Adrian J. (AJ) Delaney, III, MD MSMA member since 2006, reports the main learning points and answers to can we do MBA after MBBS?, or why MBA after MBBS?

 

• Practicing advocacy and learning in healthcare that supports independent physicians and improves healthcare delivery.

 

• Preaching and practicing organized medicine that involves streamlining patient care, upskilling in healthcare careers, understanding of healthcare policy and advocacy.

 

• Being the support system for independent physicians, allowing them to remain self-sufficient and navigate the complexities of the healthcare system.

 

• Handle quality data effectively, focus on population health management, and improve patient outcomes—all without relying on claim-based metrics.

 

• Understanding new payment models: Transitioning to new payment models, such as value-based care, is challenging but essential for sustaining patient-centered care without compromising quality.

 

• Reflects a commitment to creating a sustainable, independent care model that prioritizes patient-centered outcomes.

 

• Many independent physicians face financial pressures that force them to merge with hospital systems. MBA helps build strong internal leadership and solid business operations to sustain independence.

 

• To run the clinic more efficiently and enable a balance between quality care and operational sustainability.

 

• MBA in healthcare is a tool to preserve high-quality patient care, despite healthcare's changing landscape.

 

Hear Dr Chandrika Kamabam Speak - Founder and MD, Anastomos

 

What motivated you to pursue an MBA after an MBBS?

 

I started developing flare for administration jobs and was really good at handling teams, and people, and I thought through Admin roles, I would implement policies, procedures, and SOP and do things for the betterment of the team and provide good clinical outcomes for patients. So in order to understand leadership and Admin principles, I decided to do an MBA.

 

How is your profile unique in the clinical space in healthcare?

 

I have clinical skills combined with Admin skills and quality skills; it helps me to keep things in perspective, take unbiased and well-balanced views about any situation, and come up with the best possible solutions. 

 

5 ways in which you think you can add more value to HealthTech than your peers.

 

Domain knowledge, converting ideas to implementable solutions, working with the teams during change management/implementation, and ensuring successful implementation of the project.

 

Is it okay to switch careers? What guides or help did you seek? 

 

I never thought I would switch careers. The time I allocated between clinical and admin work was different. More admin work and less clinical. I always have Mentors who helped me along my career path.

 

Do you want to coach recent healthcare graduates looking to switch careers to management, tech, or administration roles? What's your top advice to them?

 

Yes, of course. My advice is that they should pick a career that helps them to relax and enjoy the work; that is the only way they can continue to grow as a person and also professionally. Keep pushing your limits and challenging yourself; change is the only thing that is constant.